Madshus News

Winning Skarverennet put the season in perspective for Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (NOR).

The 26-year-old won Skarverennet on Saturday, beating Marit Bjørgen (NOR) by 46 seconds and posting a new course record in the process.

“I had great skis and I am super motivated to start the next season,” said Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, who clocked in at 1:30:20.

Fellow Madshus racer Krista Pärmakoski (FIN) was third.

The 37-kilometer skate event from Finse to Ustaoset has long been considered an unofficial season finale, and regularly attracts World Cup skiers from both cross-country and biathlon. For Østberg, winning Skarverennet was a much-appreciated bonus at the end of a somewhat challenging season.

“Winning here has reminded me why I love this. I’m not tired of skiing, of training or putting in the effort that is required at this level. Now I’m super excited to get going on the new ski season, which starts in May, and I’m looking forward to put in the hours,” she said to Norwegian broadcasters NRK after the race.

Østberg admits that there were times this winter when she felt that things were not lining up right.

“A lot of people around me kept reminding me of all the good performances ive had, all my podium finishes, and that many of my races this winter were my best so far. While the World Championships were disappointing, I realize that there are a lot of racers who would have liked to have a season like mine. I have to keep that in mind,” Østberg explains.

“The Crystal Globe is heavier than I expected,” Heidi Weng (NOR) said after the awards ceremony.

Since the FIS World Cup season opener in Finland in November, Weng has been consistently on the podium all season long, and took home the crystal globe after the mini tour in Canada this weekend. The 26-year-old moved in on the podium in December and has hardly given it up since.

Weng went into the 10-kilometer pursuit in Quebec (CAN), the final race of the mini tour and the very last race of the 2017 World Cup season, with a 1-second lead. She skied strategically smart the whole way, but lost the sprint finish by 1.2 seconds to Marit Bjørgen (NOR).

“It was a great race between me and Marit. But I probably should have saved the attack and energy for the home stretch,” Weng said after the pursuit race.

However, second place in the mini tour was plenty to secure the Overall World Cup victory, where Madshus racers plastered the entire podium.

Owning the podiumHeading into the mini tour World Cup final in Quebec, Weng lead the overall World Cup by 300 points to Krista Pärmäkoski (FIN) and had already secured the overall victory. Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (NOR) was third. This was also the final ranking.

Weng also won the 2017 Distance World Cup, while Pärmäkoski was third.

Delivered on all goals
Going into the 2017 season, Weng had the overall World Cup as a main goal, along with the 2017 FIS Nordic World Championships in Lahti (FIN) and the FIS Tour de Ski.

At the end of the season, Weng has delivered on all: She won the Overall World Cup and the Distance World Cup, she won Tour de Ski, and she took home three medals from the World Championships: She helped Norway to gold in both the team sprint and the 4x5km relay, and won the silver medal in the 30km skate mass start in Lahti.

Pärmäkoski also took home two medals from the World Championships: she won the silver medal in the 7.5km + 7.5km duathlon and anchored Finland to the bronze medal in the relay.

Heidi Weng (NOR) won the Crystal Globe for the 2017 World Cup season. Photo: Nordic Focus

The IBU biathlon World Cup wraps up the 2017 season in Holmenkollen, while cross-country returns to Canada for a 3-day mini tour this weekend.

Madshus podium girls Krista Pärmäkoski (FIN), Heidi Weng (NOR) and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (NOR) returns to Canada for the final World Cup weekend of the season.

The mini tour opens with skate sprints for men and women on March 17, continues with 10km and 15km classic mass starts for women and men respectively on Saturday, and concludes with 10km and 15km pursuits on Sunday.

Heading into the mini tour world cup final in Quebec, Weng is leading the overall World Cup with a total of 1746 points. Pärmäkoski sits in second place with 1446 points, while Østberg is third with 1352 points total.

Weng also leads the distance World Cup, while Pärmäkoski is third.

Bitahlon party
For the biathlon racers, the 2017 World Cup will conclude in Holmenkollen (NOR), the host of the 2016 IBU World Championships. The weekend features sprint races for men and women on Friday, March 17, continues with men’s and women’s pursuit races on Saturday, and concludes with mass start events on Sunday.

Marte Olsbu (NOR) earned her first two World Championship medals in Oslo last year when she won the bronze medal in the mixed relay and then anchored Norway to gold in the women’s relay. Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR), who won three individual medals at the World Championships in Oslo last year, as well as helping Norway to gold in the men’s relay, is also looking forward to cap off the season on home turf.

Marte Olsbu (NOR) anchored Norway to gold in the relay at the 2016 IBU world championships in Oslo (NOR). Photo: Nordic Focus

Heidi Weng (NOR) was 3rd in the sprint at the FIS World Cup in Otepaeae (EST). Photo: Nordic Focus

Heading into the 2017 FIS Nordic World Championships, Madshus racers are dominating the overall World Cup on the women’s side.

Heidi Weng (NOR) sits in first place with 1651 points, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (NOR) in second place with 1285 points and Krista Pärmäkoski (FIN) in third place with 1262 points. The same order goes for the overall distance World Cup.

Weng is also third in the overall sprint world cup going into the World Championships this week.

Final prep for Lahti
At the FIS cross-country World Cup last weekend, Heidi Weng (NOR) was third in the sprint on Saturday and again in the 10km classic race on Sunday at the World Cup in Otepää (EST).

Also on Sunday, Hans Christer Holund (NOR) skied an impressive 15km classic race, and was rewarded with a podium finish. Holund was third in the race but possibly the happiest skier on the podium.

“This third place means a lot to me. I’ve had a difficult season with the (shoulder) injury in the fall. At the finish, I could not believe I was third. This is probably the hardest 15 km I have ever skied. The course was tough, and the snow conditions made it even harder, so I started out conservatively and stepped it up as the race progressed,” Holund said.

Holund is an extra for the Norwegian national team World Championships squad.

The Otepää weekend was the last World Cup prior to the 2017 FIS Nordic World Championships in Lahti (FIN), which open on Wednesday, February 22. The first races are on Thursday, February 23.

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Hans Christer Holund (NOR) was 3rd in the 15km classic at the FIS World Cup in Otepaeae (EST). Photo: Nordic Focus

Håvard Solås Taugbøl (NOR) had the longest toe at the Norwegian National Championships relay and anchored Lillehammer to bronze. Here from the World Cup in Falun (SWE) in January. Photo: Nordic Focus

…belongs to Håvard Taugbøl (NOR), while the younger crew collected hardware at the FIS U23 and Junior World Championships.

Håvard Solås Taugbøl skied onto the Lahti (FIN) World Championships team with strong performances at the Norwegian National Championships this weekend.

While the Lahti World Championships team was announced after the Norwegian National Championships skiathlon events on Saturday, Taugbøl’s most impressive performance for the weekend was anchoring Lillehammer Skiklub to the podium at the 3×10 kilometer relay on Sunday. Coming into the finish lane in fourth place, Taugbøl secured the bronze medal for his club. Despite being blocked repeatedly for the sprint finish, the 23-year-old sprint specialist surged toward the line and had the longest toe as they both reached across the line. Marathon specialist Øystein Pettersen skied the first leg for Lillehammer.

Taugbøl has posted several top 10 in the World Cup this season and had the fastest qualifier time at the Toblach World Cup three weeks ago. He won the FIS sprint at Gålå in December and was second in the Scandinavian Cup sprint in Lillehammer the following weekend, and this weekend he was third in the sprint at the national championships. Combined, these efforts earned him a ticket to the Norwegian sprint team at the FIS World Championships in Finland.

Also, Hans Christer Holund helped his club LYN Ski to gold in the relay. Holund, who skied the second leg for LYN, surged to create a gap for his team that nobody was able to close, and LYN won by more than a minute. Prior to the relay, Holund was named an extra to the World Championships team.

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Hans Christer Holund (NOR) skied the 2nd leg for LYN Ski at Norwegian Championships relay and surged to secure a gap that nobody could close, helping his team to gold. Here from Tour de Ski. Photo: Nordic Focus

Among the women, Heidi Weng was on the podium in all the individual competitions at the national championships. On Thursday, she was third in the 10km classic. Then she was second in the skate sprint on Friday, and third again for the skiathlon on Saturday. Ingvild Flugstad Østberg was second in the classic race on Thursday. Also, Marte Bjørnsgaard helped Lillehammer to silver in the 3x5km relay on Sunday.

Meanwhile, at the FIS U23 and Junior World Championships in Utah (USA), January 30 to February 5, Madshus skiers earned medals in both the junior and the U23 category. Junior Petter Stakston (NOR) took home the silver medal in the classic sprint on Monday, January 30, after posting the fastest qualifier time in the event. Junior Marte Mæhlum Johansen (NOR) first earned the silver medal in the 5-kilometer skate on Thursday, then continued with gold in the skiathlon on Friday. Junior Harald Østberg Amundsen (NOR) was third in the skiathlon. Additionally, Thea Krokan Murud (NOR) earned the silver in the women’s U23 5-kilometer skate race on Thursday. Finally, on Sunday, Amundsen and Jon Rolf Skape Hope helped Norway to gold in the relay.